Dead On Arrival
by elho
Summary: Post DAG, First ever Fanfic so please be kind : Eventually probably Sookie/Eric but I'm definitely not making it easy!
1. Back to Normal

It was two weeks after the fairy war when I finally gathered the strength to go back to working at Merlotte's. Sam wasn't happy about it, as I knew he would be, but he was happy to see me and after appealing to him to allow me to have some normalcy in my life, he caved in. That didn't stop him watching my every move.

_Poor Sookie that car crash must have taken a lot out of her…_

I was collecting empty glasses and when I turned to look at him, Hoyt Fortenberry blushed deeply and smiled. Hoyt was almost completely right about me, except he believed that tale that had been floating around that I'd been injured in a serious car accident. I wished it was a car accident that had done this; it would have been so much simpler. At Merlotte's only Sam knew the truth, but I was uncertain how much he knew and I don't think about it anyway.

My shift went on as normal, me forcing that Crazy Sookie smile across my face and trying to drown out the silent chatter of everyone around me. That was the difficult part seeing as most of it was focused on how awful I looked and the circumstances of my 'car crash'. I was so relieved when we eventually got round to closing at 1am that Sam could hardly stop me running out of the door, even though he seemed desperate for a chat. I guessed there was only one topic on his mind and I did not want to discuss it.

I climbed into my rusty, reliable old car and started the short drive back to my house. The house looked dead as I pulled into the drive, which immediately scared me. I didn't expect Amelia to have waited up for me, but she often left the front porch light on when she knew I was coming in late. The porch was pitch black. I told myself she had forgotten and I knew she was in a bad way since Trey had died so it wasn't far from a possibility. Despite this, I walked silently up to the front door and reached into my bag for the keys. After a moment, I realised my keys were not needed as the door was open a crack.

My heart started pounding more quickly as I pushed open the door softly. I immediately thought of Dermot and Felipe de Castro and Victor Madden and all the other people who seemed to be after me, but my thoughts rested on Dermot. I tried unsuccessfully to push them from my mind. The entrance hall was empty, as was the kitchen and the front room. After I shut the door, I flicked on a small light next to it and scanned the room. Everything looked just as it had this morning.

"Amelia!" I was sorry to wake her, but I was freaked out from the open door and I frantically prayed she was ok. There was no response. "Meals?" I opened my mind and scanned the house for thoughts. There was no response there either.

I started to panic as I climbed the stairs up to her room. I hoped to god she was lying asleep in bed. The door to her room was open and I popped my head through the small gap. The room and everything in it was pristine. My eyes wandered to the bed which was empty and as perfect as the rest of the room. Had Amelia just left?

I checked her wardrobe and cupboards which were all empty. I investigated the rest of the upstairs rooms and then threw my body down on the sofa.

How could Amelia leave without telling me? I had looked around the entire house and she hadn't even left a note. I had a feeling she might have wanted to get away from Bon Temps after Trey's funeral but without notice and while I was at work? It didn't sound like Amelia to me. The most disturbing thing was the door, knowing all the trouble I inevitably got myself into, leaving the door open was the last thing either I or Amelia would ever do. As I sat there the house around me, which I have lived in since I was seven years old, suddenly seemed unfamiliar to me. The only time I had ever been truly alone in this house was after gran's death and Bill had been with me almost every night.


	2. Eric

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed that badly written first chapter :) I'm struggling to get the characters just right and the background stuff from the books might be a bit hazy but I haven't read them all through in a while. **

**Everything here belongs to Charlaine Harris ;)**

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I decided to call Eric, reluctantly. We hadn't seen or spoken since he and Pam had dropped me off at home after the Fairy War and I didn't know if he deliberately didn't want to see me or he thought it was best for my recovery. Pam had often dropped by, checking on both me and Amelia, but I didn't know if these visits were on Eric's order. However, I was certain everything I had said and done during those visits will have been reported back to Eric.

"Fangtasia, the bar with bite,"

"Hi Felicia?" She made an affirmative but slightly reserved grunt. "It's Sookie; can I please talk to Eric?"

"Oh, hi Sookie," Felicia had always been a bit wary of me, since Pam had told her of my history with the Fangtasia bar staff. "He's just sitting, enthralling the vermin, I'll pass the phone over," 'Enthralling the vermin' seemed to be a favourite phrase of the Fangtasia staff. I imagined Eric, lounging in his throne whilst fangbangers threw themselves at him. I stifled jealous thoughts rising in my mind.

"Sookie?" The sound of his voice, however confused it sounded, sent calming feelings through the bond. I almost forgot why I was calling him.

"Hi Eric," I tried to sound less than excited to talk to him but I failed. "I have to talk to you, Amelia has left…" It was hard not to sound sad when I told him.

"The witch left? When?" His voice was mumbled, and I imagined him kicking off a grasping fangbanger. The jealously rose slightly.

"Well, I came in from work just now and the house was empty, Amelia and all of her things are gone," He considered this silently for a moment. I thought about telling him about the door, but decided against it. I didn't want to worry him too much.

"She didn't tell you about her plans to leave?"

"No," I couldn't hide the anger and worry from my voice. "Not even a note,"

"That is strange, I'll be over in half an hour," This confused me as Shreveport was over an hour away but then with Eric driving…

"Oh Eric, you don't have to…"

"I do have to, I have something I want to discuss with you anyway," I didn't like the sound of that. "Half an hour," And he hung up.

My body flared at the idea of Eric coming over. I had tried not to think about him but I found it impossible. I had so many things I wanted to ask him but at the same time I was reserved about asking them. Eric had said he would explain why it was Bill who was left to rescue me that night but I had yet to hear this explanation and I had a feeling I didn't want to hear it. I had tried so hard to block out the memories of that night but the memory of me forever calling Eric's name inside my head always had stuck with me. On top of that, the current relationship between me and Eric was far from simple. My mind turned back to Amelia. I knew something was up and I felt guilty that I had started thinking about that Viking when I should be worrying about her.

Exactly half an hour since my call to Eric, the doorbell rang. One thing, you can't reproach Vampire timing. I opened the door and was not prepared for the effect seeing him was to have on me. I nearly swooned then and there. I may be a southern girl but I do not swoon, well not until Eric anyway. Eric grinned cheekily as he realised and I blushed crimson.

"Come in," My voice was not as nearly as composed as it should have been. Eric stepped into the hall and I tried to not look at him but, guess what, I failed again. He was dressed in a striking grey suit with a black shirt, with the top two buttons open exposing the top of his chest. I was used to seeing Eric in basic jeans and tee combinations but hell, I am definitely not complaining. I shook myself back to reality, I'm mad at Eric and worried about Amelia, no Viking in a grey suit is going to distract me from that. I think he realised the inner debate going on inside my head because he laughed.

"Are we going to stand here in the hall in silence all night?" He laughed again and couldn't help but grin slightly.

"Sorry, would you like a drink?"

"Yes, thank you," I shuffled into the kitchen and warmed up a true blood in the microwave. When I returned Eric was leaning back on the chair in my living room in vampire downtime. I hadn't been _that _long. He started sipping on his drink and then turned his head to face me. "Now tell me everything about what happened tonight," I told him exactly what happened since I'd left Merlottes and decided no longer to emit the part about the front door. I felt his slight anger through the bond after it came up. "You didn't mention that part before," He was definitely pissed.

"I didn't want to…" I was struggling how to say it.

"What? Worry me? Piss me off? You just delayed this, you didn't prevent it," The anger was rising across the bond and so I began to get angry.

"I knew if I told you, this would be how you would react and you probably would have made me stay at Fangtasia or send me vampire guards or something like that, I'm just sick of it, its only been two weeks and this shit is already back," Eric stood up from his chair and went to look in the fire. I felt his anger rise even further and I braced myself for reproach.

"You could be in danger, Sookie, if someone could have took the witch like that with no sign of resistance, it could easily happen to you and you are right I would have reacted like that," He turned and looked at me. "Because it's necessary,"

"We don't even know that's what happened, Amelia's pretty beat up about Trey, she may have decided to leave on impulse and just didn't shut the door right," Eric raised his eyebrows at me and sat back in the chair, shaking his head.

"You said her room was spotless and nothing was forgotten, I think someone leaving on impulse will have definitely forgotten something," He screwed up his forehead. "No, this feels planned," My heart sank as I thought of Amelia planning to leave and not telling me. Eric must have felt it as he moved from the chair to the sofa and sat next to me. His close proximity and the bond filled with me calm, happy thoughts.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," I looked up at him to meet his eyes.

"What?" He almost looked offended.

"The bond, it forces these calm thoughts on to me, its feels so fake,"

"I can't help that Lover," I realised this was the first time he had called me his lover in weeks; surely he wasn't trying to seduce me now. Bad timing, even for you Eric, though I don't know whether I would turn him down. "I just prefer you when you are calm," I laughed at the bluntness of his statement and he grinned. "Trust me, I will do everything I can to find your witch friend and I will also organise protection for you, I will hear no arguments,"

"But…" He pressed a finger to my lips.

"I said no, Sookie, anyway you like Bubba, so what's so wrong about him following you around for a bit, apart from the cat thing," I took his hand and pulled it away from my face.

"Well, he does sometimes take things a bit too seriously, yeah like leaving a dead body in Alcides apartment that time, and you don't even know the trouble I had when I had to take him to Merlottes once, he's kind of noticeable you know," I chucked at that remembering sneaking Bubba round the back so no one in the bar would realise a vampire strangely like Elvis Presley was following around Sookie Stackhouse. Eric smiled back at me. "Ok, I won't argue," I hated giving in. "But, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" His face changed when I said that and he looked at the clock on my front room wall.

"Don't you humans need sleep or something?" It was 3:30 am. At least I didn't have a daytime shift at Merlottes tomorrow.

"Since when have you cared about me getting sleep? You said you had something to talk to me about," The words sounded harsh when I said them.

"I do, but I'd prefer if we could spend a longer time on it, I know it isn't going to be a quick talk," I could guess what his talk was going to be about. "And I will have to go soon," I didn't like the fact he was leaving me. He took out his phone and began to dial. "Give me a second, Sookie," I took his empty TrueBlood bottle to the kitchen and threw it into the trashcan. I returned to the living room just as he had finished his phone conversation.

"You could always stay here you know, I've got that hidey-hole thing," I don't why I suggested it; I just knew I didn't feel safe and would feel a lot safer if he was here with me.

"I would love to, but I've got to organise some things back at the bar, but don't worry," He smiled. "Now that I know about this, you will be one hundred percent completely safe, I promise," I wish I could believe this, but he had let me down before…

He rose to walk to the door and we stood in my porch looking at each other. There were a lot of things I knew each of us wanted to say but I was certain, at least for tonight anyway, they would go unsaid. I could feel through the bond his growing lust for me and I was sure I spied a bit of fang between his lips but he didn't say anything. He knelt down and kissed me tenderly on the lips but pulled out soon after, leaving me annoyed and confused. He grinned at my confusion and I knew he loved to drive me insane.

"Goodbye, Lover," With that he disappeared out of the door and I watched him climb into his red Corvette and drive away.


	3. Phonecall

A/N: Everything here belongs to Charlaine Harris!

Sorry this is a bit of a short chapter, I'm just keeping you in suspence thats all :)

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It was hard to sleep after Eric left me. Every small movement or creak inside the house had me out of bed switching the lights on in a panic. Eventually I sank down into my duvet and dozed off. I wasn't surprised however when I woke up at 8am. After all the sleep I'd had over the past two weeks, I hardly needed anymore and I was anxious to see if Amelia had returned in the few hours I'd been out of it.

Unsurprisingly, Amelia's room will still empty when I ventured in after getting ready. I decided to do some early morning cleaning, a habit I'd picked up during my recovery but as I looked around at the house I realised there was nothing for me to do.

My thoughts, as they often did, drifted back to Eric. I hate how incoherent I become whenever he walks into a room and although my actions might make it hard to believe, I am officially angry with Eric. I don't like to think about why I am angry with him, because it just drags up things I would rather forget but I am definitely still angry with him. Yes. I had a feeling, that either Pam or the Viking himself (or maybe both, great!) may be turning up on my doorstep this evening. And guess what, a tiny part of me can't wait. I really hate that part of me right now. My feelings for Eric were so mangled inside my brain; I didn't know what was real anymore. I did have an extreme lust for him (extreme is definitely not strong enough to describe it) and who wouldn't, but I didn't know if any romantic feelings to back these up existed. I did have my moments when I felt like I could feel more for him, but were these moments just created from the bond? One thing I know for sure, any relationship between me and Eric was definitely going to be well fucked up.

I'm brought back from my thoughts from the phone ringing.

"Hello, Sookie speaking?" I can't help being polite.

"Sookie," It was a whisper of a voice that replied.

"Amelia?" A big sigh of relief came over me at that point. "Meals, I've been so worried, where have you…,"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Sook, but we haven't got time," Amelia sounded deadly serious. My relief swept away as quickly as it had come. "Listen to me, Sookie; do not come after me, okay? Do not try and find me, I'm warning you," I didn't know what to say to that. I heard Amelia's raspy breathing on the other end of the line.

"What's wrong Meals? What has happened?" I sounded desperate.

"Trust me Sookie, I am fine. Just you won't be if you try to find me, I can't say more, i've gotta go…" The line went dead. I almost crumpled into a heap right there on the floor.

I didn't know what to do then. I went through my mind thinking of all the places Amelia could be, all the people who could have taken her, all the people who wanted to hurt me or control me. As stupid as it sounds, my witch roommate, is the closest thing I have to a normal human friend and if anyone knew me well, they knew hurting her would also hurt me deeply. There were so many possibilities of who could have taken her; I was in daze thinking of where to start. I had my enemies not only in the vampire population, but some fae, shifters and weres also harboured harsh feelings towards me. Before I befriended vamps, I don't think anyone would have intentionally thought of hurting me or anyone close to me. The supernatural world had changed everything for me.

I drove to Merlottes and walked into the office to talk to Sam. His surprise at seeing me at work on my day off was quickly replaced by anxiousness and worry. I guessed it must be due to the expression on my face. I sat on his chair and broke down.

"Someone has Amelia, Sam. Someone has taken her, to get to me," I quickly filled him in on the details of the previous night and this morning. The story took a while for me to finish, in between wiping the tears from my eyes. Sam's face immediately darkened and he knelt beside the chair, clasping my hand in his large palms.

"I will do all I can to help you Sook, but I don't want you doing anything. If what Amelia said is true, you shouldn't be going anywhere near her, you're in as much danger…"

"…I can't let her suffer for me, Sam!" My voice came out louder than I expected. Sam shushed me quietly and stood up, before placing his arm round my shoulders and pulling me into his embrace.

"Hon, your safety is top priority to me and I know you feel guilty about Amelia but I want you to let others, for once, handle this. I'm sure Eric has already organised something, you said you told him last night," Sam didn't seem exactly confident in Eric's involvement and I wasn't either. Eric seemed to care for me and what upset me, but he had no real concern for Amelia apart from feeling her disappearance was making me upset and that in turn was stopping him from getting laid.

I left Merlottes and once I climbed back into my car I realized I had no idea where to go. I didn't want to go home because I would feel useless just sitting there whilst Amelia was god knows where and I couldn't see Eric or Bill, because it was the middle of the day. Stupid nocturnal Vampires.

I know Eric and Sam had both told me not to do anything, but I can't just sit by twiddling my thumbs waiting for them to be my heroes. Thats when I began to drive.


	4. The Perfect Movie Vampire

A/N: Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris except from Markus -he's all mine :)

Two updates in one day! I must be spoiling you all. And I'll warn you I'm no expert in American Geography! Enjoy :)

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I honestly don't know how I ended up in New Orleans. I was literally driving in a daze when I set off from Bon Temps. It was about 200 miles later when I noticed the huge welcome sign, inviting me into New Orleans. Since Katrina, it was definitely not the same bustling city it had once been, but it was recovering slowly and there were signs of this recovery everywhere as I drove into the city. Being here brought back memories of my last trip, which had ended with me bringing Amelia back to live in Bon Temps. I almost burst into tears at that thought.

It was 3:30pm by the time I arrived. I knew I only had a short time before Eric woke and realised I was no longer in Bon Temps. As soon as that happened, my little adventure will be over with a bang. Eric will be so pissed. To be honest, I care more about finding Amelia, than Eric's feelings at this exact moment.

Somehow, I know exactly where I am going. I found the apartment block with ease and this disturbed me more than ever. I only spent a short time in Hadley's apartment and I never drove there myself, so knowing its exact location seemed spooky. Almost fated. The apartment block had changed significantly since the last time I'd been here. Amelia had said it had been almost completely destroyed by Katrina and her father's company had taken on the difficult task of rebuilding it. Although it looked finished, the building was covered in scaffolding and I couldn't feel any minds inside. I was disappointed to say the least. I thought maybe coming to the apartment would give me a clue to where Amelia was and that her whereabouts would become obvious whilst I was here. I have realised I am extremely naïve.

I walked up to the door and tested it. It was unlocked so I reluctantly stepped into the dark hallway. I could feel my heart starting to pound heavily in my chest and I resisted the urge to run back to my car. I climbed the stairs until I reached what was once Hadley's apartment. The front door to the apartment was flung open and when I looked in it was completely empty. Everything about the apartment was white and clean. No one had lived here for a very long time. I continued climbing until I reached Amelia's. This time the door was not open. I gripped onto the handle and softly pushed it down but nothing happened. I pushed more and more violently but still the door didn't respond. I pushed my full weight against the door in an attempt to force it but it unceremoniously failed. All my efforts had exhausted me so I leant with my head against the door and started to breathe heavily. This trip to New Orleans has actually achieved nothing at all, apart from my embarrassment at losing a fight against a door. I pushed myself up and turned to go downstairs but found myself walking right into somebody's chest. I jumped backwards and stared up at the man. He was tall, almost as tall as Eric, and was deathly pale with contrasting black features. His eyes were pools of dark ink. He had features that Goths would work countless hours to recreate with eyeliner and white face powder. He looked like the perfect movie vampire but when I lifted my shields and tried to read his mind, he didn't produce a gap like a vampire would. His mind didn't register as anything, like he didn't exist.

"Who…who are you?" I stuttered, trying to take my gaze away from his eyes but find myself unable to. He stood as still as a statue and I was sure he had gone into his equivalence of vampire downtime but my thoughts were interrupted.

"It doesn't matter who I am," His voice was low and almost a whisper. He finally released me from his death gaze and he looked down at the floor. "We need to go, the bloodsucker will be here soon," He tried to grip on to my shoulder but I shook him off violently.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! For a start I don't even know you!" I couldn't actually believe what was happening. "And who do you mean by bloodsucker?" I stepped further away from him.

"I don't need your permission to take you anywhere, I can just force you, but I would prefer if I didn't have to," His whisper turned into a snarl and he reached forward to stroke his hand against my cheek. I shuddered. "Bloodsucker? Or Vampire? But I'm guessing you call him Master or Mr Northman?" He laughed cruelly at that bit. "Now, you can either come with me conscious or… you choose,"

"Where do you want to take me?" The desperation in my voice was overwhelming.

"You don't need to worry about that," His hand felt like a handcuff as he had gripped on to my wrist and began to pull me out the building. My heart sank when I saw it was still light on the street and I realised for once Eric would not be able to save me from this situation. The guy pulled me to a black car parked around the back of the apartment and pushed me into the passenger seat, clipping in my seatbelt. Obviously, he didn't trust me because he retrieved a small padlock out of his pocket and placed it over the clasp of the seatbelt and locked it. He slammed the door and then ran to climb in the other door. The radio came on and some girly pop song filled the car. He decided not to switch it off and began to drive.

The journey passed in ultimate silence apart from the cheery pop of the radio. I watched it go dark outside and inside my head I willed Eric to find me. The guy seemed to notice because he sniggered under his breath.

"You might as well give up on that, he can't hear you," His eyes flickered over to me. "No matter how closely _bonded_ you are," He choked out the words and laughed again. I felt like punching him in the face. More than ever I wished I wasn't padlocked and belted into my seat.

"You know nothing about it," I said simply and his face widened in a huge grin.

"I know more about you than you think Sookie," It was the first time he had addressed me by name and it made me sick to my stomach hearing him say it. "Do you need me to prove it?" He grinned wickedly again. I didn't doubt him.

"If you get to call me Sookie, is it not fair I know your name too?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"Sookie," He stressed my name this time. "You won't get away with talking to me like that, I'm just warning you. But yes, you can call me uh… Markus," He definitely wasn't a Markus, what a fake name. I tried once again to read his mind, but I hit a brick wall. "I thought you may have given up on that by now," I panicked. He can feel me in his head; he knows I can't read him so he knows I'm a telepath. "So close Sookie, but yet so far," Then I realised.

"You can read my mind! You're a telepath?" The only other telepath I'd met was Barry the Bellboy but I still could read his mind.

"Amongst other things, I'm a mix… a bit like you," Markus stared at the road. I think he was angry he'd given himself away. I hated to think he was anything like me.

"Why can't I read you?" I had forgotten my former terror of him as I just wanted to ask him about his telepathy in comparison to mine. Maybe he was dragged into Supernatural shit just like I was.

"As I said, I'm a mix, Telepathy is only one of my traits," He wasn't giving anything anyway. "And _really_ I'm nothing like you," He was damn right there.

The car came to a halt and Markus was tying a black piece of material around my eyes. I felt him lift me out of the car and bind my arms behind my back. I remembered the last time I was tied up like this and I felt a panic attack brewing. I'd only just recovered from that time; I don't think I could survive that torture once again. Markus led me up at least 5 flights of stairs and through countless numbers of doors and sat me on chair before tying my arms to it.

I listened and heard him have muffled conversations with other people in the room. Someone shuffled over to where I was and I felt the material being removed from eyes. It took them a minute to get used to the bright light in the room but after I scanned the room with my eyes I noticed Amelia, unconscious, tied to the chair next to me.


End file.
